Psalms 49

49 ¹ Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in the world, ² both low and high, rich and poor alike. ³ My mouth will speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart will bring understanding. ⁴ I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the lyre I will unfold my riddle. ⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come, when the wickedness of those who would trip me up surrounds me— ⁶ those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? ⁷ Truly no one can redeem his brother or pay our Father a ransom for him— ⁸ the ransom for a life is costly; no payment is ever enough— ⁹ that he should live on forever and never see the grave. ¹⁰ For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. ¹¹ Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places for all generations, though they had named lands after themselves. ¹² Man, despite his pomp, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. ¹³ This is the way of those with foolish confidence, and of those after them who approve their words. Selah

¹⁴ Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will shepherd them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their bodies will waste away in the grave, far from their lofty homes. ¹⁵ But our Father will redeem my life from the power of the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah ^a a v15 Unlike the rich who cannot buy their way out of death, the psalmist trusts that our Father himself will rescue him from the grave and take him into his own presence.

¹⁶ Do not be afraid when someone grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases, ¹⁷ for he will carry nothing away when he dies; his splendor will not follow him down. ¹⁸ Though while he lives he counts himself blessed—and people praise you when you do well for yourself— ¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never again see the light. ²⁰ Man, despite his pomp, who does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.